Epidemiological aspects of hepatitis C virus infection among renal transplant recipients in Central Brazil

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Sílvia M Botelho²  Renata C Ferreira²  Nádia Rs Reis²  Aline G Kozlowski²  Megmar As Carneiro²  Sheila A Teles¹  Clara Ft Yoshida¹  Regina Mb Martins² 

[1] ,Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública

关键词: hepatitis C virus;    renal transplant recipients;    prevalence;    risk factors;    ALT;    genotypes;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0074-02762008000500011

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

An investigation was conducted involving 255 renal transplant recipients in the state of Goiás, Central Brazil, to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV), its risk factors, the genotypes involved, and the level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) present in the patients. All serum samples were tested for anti-HCV antibodies and HCV RNA. Forty-one patients were anti-HCV and/or HCV RNA positive, resulting in an overall HCV infection prevalence of 16.1% (95% CI: 11.9-21.3). A multivariate analysis of risk factors showed that a history of blood transfusions without anti-HCV screening, the length of time spent on hemodialysis, and renal transplantation before 1994 are all associated with HCV positivity. In HCV-positive patients, only 12.2% had ALT levels above normal. Twenty-eight samples were genotyped as genotype 1, subtypes 1a (62.5%) and 1b (31.3%), and two samples (6.2%) were genotype 3, subtype 3a. These data show a high prevalence of HCV infection and low ALT levels in the studied population. The risk factor analysis findings emphasize the importance of public health strategies such as anti-HCV screening of candidate blood and organ donors, in addition to the stricter adoption of hemodialysis-specific infection control measures. The present study also demonstrates that HCV genotype 1 (subtype 1a) is predominant in this population.

【 授权许可】

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